Thomas Was Alone

I loved Thomas Was Alone, the minimalist platformer released last year by Mike Bithell. The hilarious narration, memorable characters and awesome music defied my expectations I had after first hearing about the game and I was glad to see Thomas find a home on Steam. I'm never going to stop wanting for more people to play it. So it's great news that Thomas Was Alone will becoming to PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita.

The jumping-block game will support CrossBuy, meaning that you'll have it for both devices after buying it on one. The PlayStation edition will also feature a new director's commentary mode, and a new DLC episode with a new mechanic, voiceover by Danny Wallace and music by David Housden. Given that the voicework and music were both excellent in the original release, those are fantastic additions.

Thomas Was Alone joins indie darlings Super Crate Box and Retro City Rampage on the Vita. And Hotline Miami is on its way there, too. Say what you want about Sony's portable but it's turning into a great little avenue for indie games to reach wider audiences.

I really loved Thomas Was Alone, a charming indie puzzle platformer from developer Mike Bithell. Apparently, the folks who make games for Wired's UK division liked it, too, because they cranked out a game that cribs heavily from Thomas Was Alone.

CFBDSIR2149 Was Alone doesn't have the endearing narration of Danny Wallace or the excellent soundtrack by David Housden. But the newsgame tied to an article about an orphan planet does parrot the tone, text boxes and get-to-the-exit level design of Thomas. Despite being an unmistakable—and inferior—clone of Bithell's game, no acknowledgement of that inspiration is in the text. The developer of the CFBDSIR2149 game does mention Thomas Was Alone in the comments.

As of this writing, there hasn't been any change in the article text. No game deserves to be ripped off but it's especially troubling when it happens to an indie release. Everyone go play Thomas Was Alone. It's better anyway.

Update: Mention of Thomas Was Alone—and a link to the game on Steam—as inspiration has been added to the article. All is well.